Abstract
Objective:This study examines the association between social support and cognitive function among midlife and older MSM living with or without HIV.Design:We analyzed longitudinal data from participants enrolled from October 2016 to March 2019 in the Patterns of Healthy Aging Study, a substudy of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study.Methods:We conducted a cross-sectional analysis to estimate the association between social support and three measures of cognitive function [Trail Making Test (TMT) Part A, TMT Part B to A ratio, and Symbol Digit Modalities Tasks (SDMT)]. We also used linear mixed-effects models to estimate the association between baseline social support and cognitive function across four subsequent time points. We evaluated a multiplicative interaction term between baseline social support and time, in order to determine whether cognitive trajectories over time vary by baseline social support.Results:Social support was associated with lower TMT Part A scores at baseline and over the subsequent 2 years, indicating better psychomotor ability. Social support was associated with higher SDMT scores at baseline and across 2 years, indicating better information processing. We observed no association between social support and TMT B to A ratio at baseline or across 2 years, indicating no effect on set-shifting ability. Longitudinal cognition outcome trajectories did not vary by the level of baseline social support.Conclusion:Social support and cognitive function were associated in this sample over a short time period. Further research should explore causal relationships over the lifespan.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 803-811 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | AIDS |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1 2023 |
Keywords
- HIV/AIDS
- MSM
- cognitive decline
- psychosocial health conditions
- social support
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Infectious Diseases
- Immunology and Allergy
- Immunology